Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea

When he was young, artist Shih Chieh Huang loved taking toys apart and perusing the aisles of night markets in Taiwan for unexpected objects. Today, this TED Fellow creates madcap sculptures that seem to have a life of their own—with eyes that blink, tentacles that unfurl and parts that light up like bioluminescent sea creatures.

I was born in Taiwan.

I grew up surrounded by

different types of hardware stores,

and I like going to night markets.

I love the energy of the night markets,

the colors, the lights, the toys,

and all the unexpected things I find every time I go,

things like watermelon with straw antennas

or puppies with mohawks.

When I was growing up, I liked taking toys apart,

any kind of toys I'd find around the house,

like my brother's BB gun when he's not home.

I also liked to make environments

for people to explore and play.

In these early installations,

I would take plastic sheets, plastic bags,

and things I would find in the hardware store

or around the house.

I would take things like highlighter pen,

mix it with water, pump it through plastic tubing,

creating these glowing circulatory systems

for people to walk through and enjoy.

I like these materials because of the way they look,

the way they feel, and they're very affordable.

I also liked to make devices
that work with body parts.

I would take camera LED lights

and a bungee cord and strap it on my waist

and I would videotape my belly button,

get a different perspective,

and see what it does.

(Laughter)

I also like to modify household appliances.

This is an automatic night light.

Some of you might have them at home.

I would cut out the light sensor,

add an extension line,

and use modeling clay,

stick it onto the television,

and then I would videotape my eye,

and using the dark part of my eye

tricking the sensor into thinking it's night time,

so you turn on the lightbulb.

The white of the eye and the eyelid

will trick the sensor into thinking it's daytime,

and it will shut off the light.

I wanted to collect more different types of eyes,

so I built this device using bicycle helmets,

some lightbulbs and television sets.

It would be easier for other
people to wear the helmet

and record their eyes.

This device allows me to symbolically

extract other people's eyes,

so I have a diversity of eyes to use

for my other sculptures.

This sculpture has four eyes.

Each eye is controlling a different device.

This eye is turning itself around in a television.

This eye is inflating a plastic tube.

This eye is watching a video
of another piece being made.

And these two eyes are activating glowing water.

Many of these pieces are later on shown

in museums, biennials, triennial exhibitions

around the world.

I love science and biology.

In 2007, I was doing a research fellowship

at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum

looking at bioluminous organisms in the oean.

I love these creatures. I love the
way they look, the way they feel.

They're soft, they're slimy,

and I was fascinated by the way they use light

in their environment,

either to attract mates, for self-defense,

or to attract food.

This research inspired my
work in many different ways,

things like movement or different light patterns.

So I started gathering a lot of

different types of material in my studio

and just experimenting

and trying this out, trying that out,

and seeing what types of creatures I can come up with.

I used a lot of computer cooling fans

and just kind of put them
together and see what happens.

This is an 8,000-square-foot installation

composed of many different creatures,

some hanging from the ceiling
and some resting on the floor.

From afar, they look alien-like,

but when you look closer,

they're all made out of black garbage bags

or Tupperware containers.

I'd like to share with you how ordinary things

can become something magical and wondrous.

(Applause)

Thank you.

(Applause)